Lesson to be Learned
by pokegeek42
Summary: Rex, now the Champion of Kanto, needs to be knocked down a few pegs so his friends send him on a new journey. This is a flash forward of my other story "Rex's Late Start."
1. Chapter 1

The name's Rex. I'm a trainer, the best trainer. There's only one who can beat me and he's my predecessor, but that's another long and complicated story. This long and complicated story goes something like this: My friends think I'm a bit… overconfident. So, yeah, they decided to teach me some "humility" and now I'm on a boat to who knows where.

Okay I guess it wasn't that long. or complicated.

So, Reina, she's a girl I grew up with, showed up at my place this morning and lied to me saying we were going on a picnic. I didn't argue with the pretty girl asking for alone time. Y'know? So I was ushered onto Articuno (Yeah I've got an Articuno) with Reina and we flew to Vermillion. Then I got a little suspicious. There was no picnic basket or anything like that. We headed towards the dock. Now I knew there was something up and I said so.

"Rei, what's up? This isn't a picnic is it?"

"Well…" She began, "Not exactly."

"What do you mean, 'Not exactly'?" I asked.

"Well, we've been concerned. Your mother, Blue and I among others."

"Worried? I'm fine there's nothing to worry about. I mean come on?"

She sighed and continued, "That's exactly what I mean," I cocked an eyebrow, "Don't give me that. You're so self-absorbed and cocky. You haven't been to Pallet in weeks, you completely crush challengers without any remorse or considering their feelings or Pokémon. You are not indestructible. No matter how many trainers you beat or how long you hold on to your title there are better trainers out there. There will always be someone better."

I looked at her a little stunned, "But I'm the Champion. The strongest trainer. I don't lose. Rei, I'm not that bad with challengers and I've been busy. I haven't had time to visit."

"Rex! Listen to me. You are getting on this boat and you're gonna learn your lesson," Reina shouted at me in the crowded Vermillion street. I could feel the glares of the onlookers and passersby. I could only imagine what these people were thinking seeing the Champion and a girl having an argument in the middle of Vermillion City.

"Rei!" I groaned.

"Don't 'Rei' me," She shouted again, "Now. Let's. Go."

Reina grabbed my arm and started leading me roughly down the street toward the dock where a small ferry was moored.

We approached the boat and a woman hops off the deck, "Hi there are you Reina? And Rex?"

"Yes. You must be Carol. Nice to meet you. Are you ready for this idiot?" Reina said pleasantly (except for that last bit).

Carol replied with a smile, "You met the idiot I've dealt with. He'll be a piece of cake."

Reina giggled then turned to me, "Give me your pokéballs," I looked at her surprised, "Now!" she shouted and I complied. She can be scary. She took my Pokémon, turned around, and fumbled with her bag for a moment. She finished and turned back to me and gave me 6 pokeballs but not the ones I gave her. Surprisingly she left me Articuno in its Master Ball.

I tucked them into my bag and turned back to her, "Now what?"

She looked at me sternly for a moment. I half expected her to yell again. What she did do I didn't expect. Her face suddenly softened. She then leaned in and gently pressed her lips against mine. She pulled away just a bit and whispered, "Good luck."

And that's that. After she kissed me she proceeded to shove me backwards onto the boat and walked away. Now I'm on a boat headed who knows where. Wait a minute, I think I see something. It's an island.


	2. Chapter 2

_Yes that is indeed an island. It's weird that I haven't been here before. I've been all over the Kanto region, but this place is completely unknown to me._ I called up to the woman who was captaining the boat, "Is this were they want me to go?"

The woman, Carol, replied, "Yup. I have orders to drop you off and not return until I've been told otherwise."

I groaned. _My friends are nuts._

The boat came to a small rickety pier and Carol shooed me off her vessel then sailed away. Great. I was on an island with nothing but six Pokémon and a handful of supplies for an unspecified amount of time. Well I better start looking around.

I looked around from the shore and saw a building the size of a small house about a hundred yards inland so I headed for that. As I got closer I could make out the building better. It was a simple little thing. All wood obviously handmade but sturdily built. I went in through the doorway into an open air space. _It's empty. Of course it's empty._

"Hey, Champ," A voice came from the corner. A boy a year or two older than me, maybe 18, tall and thin with blonde hair and blue eyes, stood in a doorway to another room.

"Um, hi," I said back, "Who are you? I'm-"

"Hehe, I know who you are. Rex the great undefeated Champion," he said this in a huffy mocking voice, "and who I am isn't important yet."

"Don't make fun of me. I'm the strongest trainer in Kanto," I retorted

"So?" The boy scoffed and threw a bag at me, "Take that, you'll need it, and follow me." Then he walked out the door I just came through. I followed the guy outside and faced him as he stood there with a smug grin on his face.

"Ok, let's get whatever this is over with. Do I have to battle you? Is that how I get outa here?"

His face dropped, "You were sent here 'cause you need to learn humility. Battling isn't the way to do that."

"Fine. Ugh. What do I have to do?" I asked getting agitated.

"Let your Pokémon out."

"I thought we weren't battling?" I thought out loud.

"We're not. Now let them out. All of them."

"Fine." I let out all of my Pokémon from their balls. Since they had been chosen for me by Reina, most were a surprise to me. There was my oldest partner, Torch the Charizard; the reason I became a trainer, Bre the Umbreon(complete with her purple bow); my Serperior; my Galvantula; Articuno of coarse; and then the last. I groaned the mother of all groans when I saw that cream colored, loud mouthed, obnoxious little cat. "No. No. nonononono. I'm sorry but that one's going back in," I screamed and grabbed Meowth's pokéball preparing to recall it.

The blonde guy stopped me and snatched all the pokéballs, "Sorry, no can do. Rules are rules. No pokéballs on this island," He quipped (he didn't actually seem sorry), "You'll get these back when you leave. Besides what's wrong with that one? He seems harmless enough."

And then Meowth spoke, "Who ya callin' harmless, Twerp."

_Here we go. _The blonde guy looked shocked, "How on earth do you get a Meowth to talk?"

"Well, he came with that feature. What I can't figure out is how to get him to shut the hell up."

"Okay then," he shook off the oddity that is Meowth and continued, "In that bag is some supplies and what not. I assume you know how to rough it. You were just a regular trainer once." I nodded. "Good. Now here's what your task is. There are three of us on this island, myself and two others. You must locate each of us and pass a test of sorts. Then once you've done that you will be presented with a final challenge. Then you will be allowed to return to the mainland. Of course you are free to leave any time assuming you could find your way, but between you and me I don't think that girlfriend of yours would be too pleased." He smiled.

"Whatever," I sighed, "You're here now, so what's this test?"

"Yeah, it won't be that easy, Champ," he rolled his eyes, "You are to sleep here tonight," he gestured at the small building we had come out of, "Tomorrow morning your time here officially starts. Starting at sunrise your lessons begin."


	3. Chapter 3

"Stupid island. Stupid blond guy. Stupid Rei. Stupid stupid stupid…" I mumbled to myself as I got my stuff together.

It was the morning after I had arrived on this island. The night wasn't that bad. There was a small fireplace in the little house and all my Pokémon helped gather wood even Meowth helped (after I told him he would sleep outside if he didn't). I slept in the sleeping bag that was with the supplies I was given when I got here. It wasn't as comfy as my bed but I've slept in worse places. This morning I put out the fire and rounded everyone up before venturing into the dense forest that seemed to cover the island.

I hiked through the forest with Bre, Galvantula, Serperior and Meowth, while Torch and Articuno circled overhead almost until the sun set and for the record, tropical islands aren't paradise. They are hot and humid and generally unpleasant. I finally decided it was late enough to call it a day and started looking for a place to make camp. I heard running water nearby and figured some fresh water would be nice after sweating all day so I headed toward it. What I found was a natural spring. There was a rock face about 7 feet tall that had of crystal clear water spouting from the cracks into a pool that fed a stream. I immediately put my head in the running water to cool off.

"Hey, there."

I jumped back startled, "What the –" There was a twenty something guy sitting on top of the rock formation looking at me, "Who are you?" I asked the guy. He looked kinda like a hippie. He was barefoot and wore some raggedy jeans and a baja hoodie. His brown hair fell messily over his glasses and he had a short scruffy beard.

"That my friend is an excellent question," and then went on a bit of a tangent, "I mean who is anyone? And what's it mean really? A name? A title? And who decides who you are? You? Your parents? The universe?"

"I meant what's your name and what are you doing here?"

"Oh, in that case it was a very stupid question," He seemed to seamlessly switch from out there hippie to condescending adult very quickly.

I got a little angry with him, "Why is that?"

"Because, I'm sure you were told that there were only three of us on this island all three of which are only here to test you and if you don't already know my name that means blondie greeted you and you know names aren't that important for your tests." He just stared at me for a moment, "But if it's that important to you, My name is William, and this big guy here is Venusaur." William then turned around and patted the Venusaur behind him. The reason I hadn't noticed said Venusaur was it was GREEN. Not their usual bluish green but lime green and it blended in with the foliage.

"Whuuu?" I made an odd noise and stared with my mouth open. In the years I had been a trainer never had I seen something like this.

"Oh, you're unfamiliar with this phenomenon? Strange, I just assumed being the Champion you would be more knowledgeable," I swear he was mocking me, "I guess it's not surprising. It is rather rare. You see, my Venusaur here has a very rare gene. It is a genetic mutation that appears in about every 8000 Pokémon. The lay term for a Pokémon with this gene is 'Shiny' and other than their color it doesn't affect them at all." This guy was strange. He looked like a hippie, but talked like some kind of know it all geek.

"Ok. I get it. So what's the test. I wanna get this over with as quickly as possible." I brushed off the weirdness of this guy and got to the point.

He smiled at me in a weird way, "Oh, this is gonna be fun."

"What do you mean?"

"Your first lesson starts now. Sit down. Shut up."

"How is that a lesson!" I shouted at him and he just climbed on the back of the "shiny" Venusaur, leaned back and closed his eyes.

This was just the beginning. For three days he didn't do anything. He would have the grass types (two of them, a Gogoat and a Lilligant apparently also had the shiny gene) bring some food every day for us. It was driving me crazy (Meowth on the other hand was loving it). Sometimes he would get up and move to a new position, but he never did anything but nap and never moved more than 10 yards from that Venusaur who by the way actually didn't move at all for the whole three days. Whenever I would say something about the lesson he would calmly tell me, "Chill out. Relax."

Finally, during the fourth day of doing absolutely nothing I exploded like a pissed off Electtrode, "Come on! For the love of Arceus, just tell me what I need to do!"

He just sat there playing with a twig and said, "Relax,"

"We've done nothing but relax for three days!"

"No. I've been relaxing. You have been… well I don't know, but it's definitely not relaxing."

That was it I had had enough, "Fine! If you won't tell me I'll go find one of the other two and maybe they'll actually test me!" I started gathering my stuff.

"Being the Champion doesn't give you much free time does it?" He, still playing with the twig absentmindedly, asked me.

The question was a little odd and it caught me off guard, "Huh?"

"I mean you might not have challengers everyday like a Gym Leader, but then you have to make appearances and deal with the public as well as keep up with the Elite Four and what not so I would think you don't get much time to yourself."

"Well, I guess not, but so what?" I asked in a nasty kind of tone.

"So, you have been way to tightly wound. You want to know what the lesson is and I have been telling you. You have just been too stupid to realize it," his words were harsh for the first time since I met him. He stared me down for a moment then he went back to his twig. Out of nowhere the Venusaur that I had almost began to think wasn't actually alive picked me up with its vines and placed me on my back facing the sky and once more William calmly said, "Relax."

I lay there staring at the sky through the leaves. I took in the blue of the sky and the green of the leaves and the brown of the bark on the trees and I began to get it.

At first it was hard. I wanted to get up and move around or yell or do something, anything at all, but that feeling slowly drifted away. I relaxed like I hadn't since long before becoming the Champion. It felt good to just not worry about stuff for once.

Three more days had passed and a week after I met the odd hippie guy William, he pretty much kicked me out. He woke me up in the morning and he said to me, "Ok, lazy ass. That's enough relaxing." At first I was a little upset but then he added, "Hey don't look like that. This means you have passed the first test." He gave me some more supplies and pointed me towards the center of the island and said at the base of a mountain (holy crap how big was this island) I would find the next test.

Now I'm hiking through the muggy forest again missing that cool spring.


	4. Chapter 4

William didn't tell me it would take two days of hiking to get to this mountain. I was miserable. The forest just kept getting thicker and thicker, it was hotter than an angry Blaziken, and don't even get me started about the bug Pokémon.

I finally broke through the brush to find a clearing at about mid-day. I was exhausted so I sat down and pulled out the canteen that was provided for me and chugged what was left. While I was sitting there catching my breath I heard a slightly familiar voice, "Hey, Champ, how goes it?"

I looked around and saw him. He had shouted at me from the back of his BLACK Charizard which was flying about 20 feet above me. The Charizard swooped down and he jumped to the ground as it flew off toward the mountain. "You have shiny Pokémon, too?" I asked blatantly. I was too tired to be a smart-aleck.

"Oh, you ran in to William already. Good, one down two to go." He grinned at me, "and yes I do indeed have me some shinies. I'm surprised Billy didn't inform you. All three of us on this island have three shiny Pokémon. It's kinda our 'Thing'"

"Ok. Cool. So what's next? Or are you gonna screw with me for three days like the last one?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe not three whole days." He joked. He saw that I was not amused and shrugged it off, "How 'bout a race? I feel like racing."

I glared at him, "You're kidding, right? I just hiked two days to get here. I'm exhausted."

He chuckled at me, "Not us. Our Pokémon. We ride them. Which one's your fastest? Land or sky. Doesn't matter to me."

"Ok, My Articuno is I guess. Let's do this then… uh what's your name. Or do I just call you blondie like the hippie did."

"Oh. That's right," He laughed again, "I've been called a lot of things, but you can call me Austin. Nice to meet you." He politely held out his hand for a handshake but I brushed him off.

"Ok, Austin. I'll race you. Where to?"

He whistled loudly and a big golden dog came sprinting out of the forest, an Arcanine, and he jumped on its back, "The top of the mountain of course." And the both of them were gone.

I called out to Articuno who swooped down and picked me up. I thought I had the advantage because Articuno could fly straight for the top while his Arcanine had to climb the rocky mountain, and for a while I was in the lead. I was about three quarters of the way there while Austin was only half way up the mountain when he and his Arcanine became a yellow blur, it must have used Extremespeed. In less than two minutes they were standing at the top of the mountain.

Articuno landed just beneath them and I climbed the last few feet to reach Austin and as I did I started to complain, "That wasn't fair y'know. No one stands a chance agains–" I stopped because of what I saw at the top, "Holy mother of Mew, that's a volcano." We were standing on the lip of a crater and at the bottom there was bubbling lava, "What in the world were you people thinking living on an island with an active volcano in the middle. Are you crazy?"

He looked at me like I was the crazy one, "Loosen up, dude. It hasn't erupted in like ten years, and my fire Pokémon love it."

I backed up a few steps from the edge of the volcano and got back to the race, "Okay then. So back to the fact you cheated."

"I didn't cheat. Did you say we couldn't use moves 'cause I sure didn't," He feigned a look of innocence.

"Whatever. I raced you. So was that my test? Can I move on now?"

"No. What kind of test would it be if you don't learn something," He told me like I was supposed to have already known that and then laughed again.

"Well can we get on with it?"

"Okay, okay, but first I have one question. Are you afraid of heights?"

I looked at him quizzically and said, "No, I just flew a giant bird up here didn't I?"

He just replied with, "Good," then cupped his hands to his face, made a low whistle and just stared at me with a goofy smile on his face. I was about to break the awkward silence when I was jerked upward and into the air. I panicked and looked all around. It was Austin's shiny Charizard. It had grabbed me right off the volcano. After it scooped me up it swooped back toward the volcano and Austin jumped on its back. With both of us on board it shot straight up for a couple thousand feet then began circling.

"How is this supposed to teach me a lesson?" I shouted over the wind up to Austin.

He leaned over his Charizard's shoulder and shouted back, "Have fun!"

The next thing I knew I was hurtling back toward the island. All I could do was think _I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna hit this mountain and turn into a flat dead bloody pancake. I'm gonna die. I'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadie! _I think my life actually flashed before my eyes. I was absolutely terrified. Honestly I'm surprised I didn't wet myself. I was probably about four seconds from impact when I decided to close my eyes, and about 3.5 seconds after that my shoulders were yanked up hard. When I realized I wasn't indeed a flat dead bloody pancake I opened my eyes to see I was again in the arms of the black Charizard.

We landed and the Charizard put me down. I immediately collapsed. I took off my pack and hugged it to my chest as I sat there hyperventilating. Austin stood on front of me and had the nerve to ask, "So? How was it?"

I was shaking all over, but I worked up enough energy to yell, "HOW WAS IT? I WAS FRIGGIN TERRIFIED! I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE!"

He waved his hand as though to dismiss my declaration of fear, "No I mean besides that. You're shaking, right? Your heart is beating like crazy. That's fun."

"You really are insane," I just stared at him, "That is not fun it is a normal reaction to a near death experience."

"No. It is a normal reaction to a boatload of adrenaline entering your system at once. It makes you feel alive. It's exhilarating. It's probably how you feel around that girl who sent you here, and you kinda wanna do it again. Don'tchya?"

Now that I had started to relax a bit and I could think clearly he was kind of right. And I hated him for it. It was like riding a roller coaster just a billion times worse. It was heartpoundingly terrifying but at the same time it was absolutely amazing. "Yeah, so what. You still can't just go around dropping people out of the sky."

"And why not?" He seriously asked me that question then paused, "Well anyhow. You still haven't quite passed my test."

"What!" I stood up and yelled at him, "You send me skydiving without a parachute and I still haven't passed your test?"

"Yeah there's just one last bit before you can pass."

"What would that be?" I was absolutely infuriated.

He stroked his chin like he was thinking, "Hmm. I'll tell you, but after we eat. Charizard will take us to the picnic area I have set up."

I wasn't about to get back on that thing, "Oh. No way. I'll get my own ride thanks." It was my turn to whistle. Torch eventually arrived and we both boarded our Charizard and took off. We followed Austin and his Charizard to a large clearing on the opposite side of the volcano that I arrived on. In it there was a picnic table with all kinds of food for both Austin and I and our Pokémon.

All of my Pokémon had already been brought there. Austin told me he had his Volcarona (it was indeed shiny with golden wings) bring them there. All of us, me and my Pokémon and Austin and his Charizard, Arcanine and Volcarona, ate a very filling meal. After we had all had our fill, I filled my canteen to take with me. I was putting it away when Austin's Volcarona snatched it from my hands and fluttered just out of my reach. I instinctively jumped for it, but the big moth just flew up out of my reach. "C'mon. Give it back. I need that." The Volcarona seemed to laugh at me. It sounded just like its trainer.

Austin followed suit and laughed at me as well and said, "Aw. She likes you," before guffawing some more. All the Pokémon joined in and laughed in their own way. I eventually couldn't help it. At first I just cracked a little smile that got bigger and bigger then turned into laughter. I couldn't believe myself. There I was having fun and laughing with the jerk who just beat me in a race by cheating then sent me plummeting to my death.

Austin seemed to be the happiest as he just beamed at me. "What are you smiling about?" I shot at him.

"You pass." He said through bouts of laughter.

"Huh," I asked, "What'd I do?"

"For the first time since you've been on this island," he explained, "you're smiling."


	5. Chapter 5

"Holy crap. That's a big house."

Austin had told me that the last test would be in a house half a day's walk from the place we had lunch, but "house" didn't do it justice. It was a full blown mansion. It was three stories high, there were columns (friggin' columns!) decorating the face of it, and there was even a balcony. Even in the dim light of the moon it was as immaculate as my hall on Indigo Plateau, but an entire house.

I walked up to the front door and as I stood there wondering whether I should knock or just go in, I heard a voice come from some kind of PA, "Please, do come in." It was a woman's voice. I opened the door and entered the rather large entryway with huge staircases on either side leading up to another balcony. In between the two staircases there was a large doorway. I decided to venture through the doorway and ended up in a hall that took me to another large room. A dining hall with a table big enough to seat maybe thirty people, but a single girl in her early twenties was the only person there. She sat with cup of something, probably tea or coffee. She spoke with the same voice from the PA, "You look like you've had a rough time."

"You have no idea," I said as I collapsed in one of the many chairs.

The girl giggled a bit before saying, "Unfortunately, I do. I've known those two for a very long time. Austin is my step-brother and William is my uncle. Those two have been giving me a hard time for quite a while now."

"Really? Has Austin ever dropped you from a soaring Charizard?" I asked sarcastically.

She on the other hand answered seriously, "Yes, and I almost choked him to death for it. That's not the worst he's done to people though. There was once this, um, how shall I put it, awkward young man who we were charged with helping and Austin pushed him into the volcano saying, 'Sacrifice the virgin!' his Charizard caught him obviously, but you get the point. He really knows how to find and push peoples buttons. William's not much better. He had a Tropius take one particularly high strung girl to an outcropping on the side of a cliff until he was satisfied she had learned how to be 'Zen.' She was up there for two whole months. That's how long it took me realize we had a missing guest. That boy is stubborn that way."

I was a little shocked to hear what those two had done, and I was worried what this girl would do to me, "Uh. I guess I had it pretty easy then. I'm a little afraid to ask, but what's your test?"

She giggled again, "Don't worry. It's nothing like what they put you through, but unfortunately it has to wait until tomorrow evening, I'm afraid. I get to show you what you've been missing in life," I frown at the ambiguity. She just smiled at me, "I know it's cryptic, but if I tell you outright it loses its impact."

"I guess I understand."

"Thank you for your patience, Rex. I'm Stefany, by the way."

Wow someone who volunteered their name, "It's nice to meet you, Stefany."

"Likewise. I'll show you to your room. It's late and you must be tired. There's food if you're hungry. There is a shower as well, and Reina sent some extra clothes," Stefany said and stood up to direct him to the aforementioned room.

The room was like a fancy hotel room. I took a shower first. I felt truly disgusting after sweating in the same clothes for more than a week. After I got dressed I ate the dinner that Stefany left for me, then I crawled into the king sized bed and slept like a baby.

I woke up the next day at about noon. I wandered about the mansion until I found Stefany. She was in the library (wow that place was fancy) reading a book, "Oh you're awake. Good, I wanted to show you around before this evening."

So she did exactly that she took me all over the mansion. There was a study, about a dozen guest rooms, a fully stocked kitchen, a rec room, a garden, and so many more rooms I can't remember. It took almost four hours the place was so huge. After all that, we had dinner that she cooked herself. It was fantastic. She told me we still had a few hours to kill so I asked if I could meet her Pokémon.

She of course agreed and asked, "Would you care to guess what kind of Pokémon they are. I'm sure you know by now we all have shiny Pokémon, but you could still guess what kind."

I played along, "Well there was a green Venusaur, and a black Charizard, so I'm gonna guess you have an orange Blastoise with a pink shell."

That made her laugh, "Well, you're right about the Blastoise, but she is purple with a green shell," She corrected me, "Also there is my red Gyarados and my gold tailed Milotic."

She took me to the bay which was just behind the mansion, past the garden, where her Blastoise was lying on the beach and as we approached her Milotic and Gyarados surfaced in the bay. I called my Pokémon from the garden where Stefany had taken them after she had helped me to my room the night before. All of them except for Meowth (he had found his way to my room the night before and never left) came to the beach and had a good time with Stefany's Pokémon.

The sun began to set over the bay and Stefany finally said, "Rex, it looks like it's time."

"Oh, ok. So what do I need to do?" For the first time in the past week and a half I wasn't anxious about these tests and it showed in my tone.

"Well," She hopped onto the shell of her Blastoise that was already in the bay, "we're gonna go for a ride, but don't worry no one is gonna drop you." Her Gyarados lowered its head on the beach next to me, "Hop on. He doesn't bite." I did as I was told and we headed out into the bay.

We got to what I guessed was the center of the circular bay and the Gyarados stopped and her Blastoise did the same. For a while she just stood on the back of her Blastoise staring at the sunset. When she finally broke the silence she asked me, "What do you see?"

"Um," I stammered a bit not knowing what she meant, "the ocean. The sky. The sunset."

"There. The sunset. What do you think of it."

"Well. It's a sunset. It's kind of nice to look at, I guess," I answered truthfully.

"Would you say it's beautiful?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't use those words, but yes, it's beautiful."

"Yes there are many beautiful things in this world," she spoke softly, but with meaning, "The thing is there are some things in which beauty is easily seen and others in which it's not. A sunset's beauty is easily seen. Now I want you to tell me what you see beauty in."

It was an odd question. I don't regularly think of things as beautiful. "I don't really know."

"Everyone sees beauty. It just takes different forms. For instance William sees it in all that's natural: the trees, streams, and rocks, Austin sees it in a flame dancing in a fireplace, I see beauty in the raging sea. So I'll ask again. Where do you, Rex, see beauty?"

"I—" I honestly couldn't think of anything, "um."

"That's what I thought. You have trouble seeing it now. You once saw it everywhere didn't you. The passion you had for Pokémon. The same passion you saw in others. You even saw it in defeat, because it meant there was room for you to grow and learn, but now you don't get to experience it as often and it's lost its impact. You don't recognize it anymore."

I was silent. I couldn't say anything because she was right.

"I'll leave you to think about it for a while," Her Blastoise took the queue and drifted back to shore.

I was left alone with my thoughts. I finally understood why Reina and the others wanted me to come here. I had turned into the worst kind of Champion. I used to battle to get better and because it was fun, but now I only battle to keep my title. I was pathetic. I might have been the greatest trainer Kanto knew, but I was pathetic. More importantly I was sorry. I put my head in my arms and began mumbling to myself, "I'm stupid. I'm sorry… sorry… sorry."

"Don't tell me. Tell the people who actually need to hear it," Stefany had returned.

I looked up a little teary-eyed. That's when I saw it. The beauty of the sunset, of the bay, of that whole damn island, even of the angry faced Gyarados below me.

"I know that look," Stefany was looking at me from the back of her Blastoise with a satisfied look, "That is the face of someone who is seeing what they have been missing. You pass this test. Congratulations, you are no longer the same person you were when you arrived here. You've changed and it's for the better. You should be happy."

"I know I should be, but I feel like such an idiot. My friends must think the same."

"I wouldn't be so depressed. They cared enough to send you here. Most people don't even know this island exists, but your friends looked hard enough and they found it just to help you. Besides, she might disagree."

"Yeah, you moron,"

_Reina?_


End file.
